WARDERS LOCKED IN SELL

Evening Star, Issue 18280, 21 May 1923, Page 9

WARDERS LOCKED IN SELL

ATTACK BY PRISONERS. EXCITING INCIDENT AT BALLARAT. Although every effort has been made by tho Ballarat" Gaol officials to conceal the fact (says tho Melbourne ‘ Argus,’ May 8), it leaked out to-day that a sensational incident had occurred in the gaol on Saturday, during which a warder was struck over the head and knocked unconscious, and another warder* had to make use of his rifle before the disturbance was quelled. Recently a number of criminals who required special oversight were transferred from Pentridge (Melbourne) to Ballarat, and since their arrival the anxieties of the gaol staff have been added to. Only a few weeks ago a fire broke out mysteriously in a shed where some of the prisoners had been engaged cutting wood. Some damage was done, and a departmental inquiry was made. It is understood, however, that no definite cause of tire fire was discovered.

Following the usual custom, several prisoners were allowed out in the exercise yard on Saturday, under the supervision of warders. For a ■while nothing unusual happened. Then it was noticed that one prisoner was missing. A search was made at once, and two warders began to examine the cells. They were in a cell, when the door was closed behind them, and they were imprisoned. It is believed that tho prisoner who had disappeared had concealed himself in an adjoining cell, and that when he heard the warders enter the cell he slipped out of his hiding-place and made them captive. Almost as soon as this had been done, other prisoners attacked a third warder who was with them in the yard. He was struck a violent blow on the head, and fell to the ground unconscious.

The commotion caused by the attack attracted tho attention of another warder, who was on patrol duty on the top of the high wall which surrounds the gaol. Realising the desperate character of the men who were concerned in the affray, he immediately fired a shot oyer the head of a prisoner who was stooping over the warder on the ground, apparently searching his oockots for keys. The possession of the keys would have provided tho opportunity for releasing other prisoners. The sound of the shot surprised the assailant and his associates, and when the warder intimated that the next shot would not be wide of the mark the men made a dash for safety, and entered a coll. The noise of the report brought more officials to the scene, and it was not long before order was restored and the recalcitrant prisoners locked up in their cells. It is stated that some short pieces of ordinary water-piping were found at the spot where the warder was attacked. The two warders who were shut in the cell were liberated, and the wounds of the one who had been attacked were attended to. It was found that he had not been seriously injured. Despite the reticence of those directly connected with the outbreak, it is understood that the incident is viewed with grave anxiety by the authorities, and that j they are satisfied that several of the more desperate prisoners had carefully planned a disturbance, and seized the first opportunity of putting their plans into effect. For a considerable time the Ballarat Gaol has been free of exciting incidents until the arrival of the prisoners from Pentridgo. The last exciting event was the escape of a man who dropped over tho wall on a Saturday afternoon by making use of a rope improvised from torn strips of blanket. Ho was recaptured some weeks later on a farm in the country.